• The actor Robbie Curran portrays Hans Asperger giving a speech at a Nazi conference

  • An actor portraying Hans Asperger is surrounded by characters from the children’s hospital he worked in

  • One of the female identifying cast portrays a patient of the children’s hospital. Their left shoulder is to their left ear and they look to the ceiling as if thinking of something

  • Three of the actors play out a scene of two parents speaking to the head of a nursery where their child attends. The father and mother are both concerned

  • Three members of the cast make notes in their scripts and look on as the director (unseen) speaks

  • One of the female identifying cast members portrays a characature of a patient of the hospital. They are stepping with their right foot across their left, they are hunched over and their shoulders are raised toward their ears, as they swing their arm

  • One of the male identifying cast members sits in contorted position, their arms wrapped around them as if protecting theirself. They look on, watching

  • The director crouches with the script discussing the material with the cast who are sat on the floor. They are all in a large dance studio with mirrored walls and ballet barres

  • A male actor portrays Hans Asperger, the rest of the cast are assembled at the back of the room facing the audience in a line ready to move

  • The cast are arranged in a square. They each have a character they have created, someone that was in the children’s hospital. Two are sat on the floor whilst the other four are stood at differing angles to each other. It makes for an interesting land

Asperger’s Children -

Whilst studying for his MA, Peter received ACE funding for a project very close to his heart and one that inspired him to seek his own diagnosis. Asperger’s Children is a book by Edith Sheffer and reveals the history of the impact of Nazi ideology on psychiatry and autism diagnosis. The project looked at the potential of creating a piece of theatre that examined the lived experience of the autistic actors involved through the lens of the book. It was an incredible week with much material created but it was a project that needed time for reflection. Peter is now seeking further funding for the next phase of the project with a clearer view of the shape of what the eventual piece could be.

https://youtu.be/oK6JbzfnrAU?feature=shared - Highlights of the material from the R and D

https://youtu.be/e6l7NHlNSso?feature=shared - Interviews with the team